Align-assure by GolfMasters

ABSTRACT

The invention is a simple apparatus which will enable a golfer to far more easily see the precise alignment of their shoulders, the aim of their shoulder-line, during the pre-shot stance address position, and at commencement of the backswing. Such an apparatus in the teacing of golf, and for a player during practice, will be of tremendous assistance in that correct upper-body alignment, as parallel to the target-line as the feet should be, is absolutely crucial to success in hitting a golf ball properly—straight, and solidly, and on-target.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

None

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable

REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISC APPENDIX

Not applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The inventor is an instructor of golf and has studied the golf swing for more than 50 years. One of the top 2 or 3 problems I have encountered with golf students over all that time is body alignment, especially upper body and shoulder alignment when setting up to hit a shot. Without good body alignment, it is virtually impossible to hit any sort of decent golf shot. However, with good, square body alignment, everything nice and parallel to the target-line, especially the aim-line across the shoulders, even if one executes only a mediocre swing motion, the chances of a fairly decent golf shot resulting are still quite good.

Shoulder alignment at address governs the path of the golf club's head during the swing. Getting the shoulders parallel to the target-line when taking a golf stance is one of the most vitally important fundamentals towards being able to hit a golf ball straight and powerfully. The professional golfer with the greatest major tournament win record in history has stated so in most all his golf instructional publications since the beginning of his career in the early 1960s. And almost all other great and good players concur. Parallel shoulder alignment is essential to excellent golf ball-striking.

Nevertheless, shoulder alignment problems run rampant among most golfers. This is caused by the very nature of the set-up requirements for good stance, address positions themselves—one hand must be below the other on a golf club's handle, and the hands are supposed to be positioned, not centered with the body, but a few inches forward toward the target. But both these facts also almost always cause the line across the shoulders to rotate slightly to then aim many yards to the side of the target, not squarely right at the target as they should be. However, this resulting deviation to alignment is completely unwitting. The golfer doesn't realize it, doesn't feel it; but uncorrected, it will cause bad golf shots almost every time. Over the years, I have countless times counseled students that their shoulders were not parallel to the target-line when addressing their golf ball. They told me they could not feel that they were not. Then I would have them swivel their upper body until I could see their shoulders were parallel and pointing exactly at target. They then told me they couldn't sense much change, and they could not judge whether their shoulders were properly aligned, or not. Because the eyes are so close to the chest and shoulder area, and because the chest is rounded, it is very difficult to get a perspective on upper-body alignment. But place a rigid, straight pole across the front of the shoulders, and the direction of their exact alignment becomes a great deal easier to discern, and adjust.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is a simple apparatus which will enable a golfer to far more easily see the precise alignment of their shoulders, the aim of their shoulder-line, during the pre-shot stance address position, and at commencement of the backswing. Such an apparatus in the teaching of golf, and for a player during practice, will be of tremendous assistance in that correct upper-body alignment, as parallel to the target-line as the feet should be, is absolutely crucial to success in hitting a golf ball properly—straight, and solidly, and on-target.

The invention is a pole apx. 1 inch in diameter, adjustable in length to match the width of any user's shoulders. At each end are flexible and adjustable elastic straps through which the user inserts each arm and pulls the apparatus all the way up in front of them so the pole straddles their chest and upper biceps area on both sides.

First, the golfer, when practicing, will place one of their golf clubs on the ground aimed at any chosen target, and laid a few inches away from either side of a ball. In a pre-shot golf stance, the arms hang downward and slightly forward. So the pole, at each end, will rest against the upper arms just below each shoulder-blade indicating the exact and precise aim-line of the upper body and shoulders. Accordingly, for the golfer to know, for an absolute certainty, that their shoulders will be aimed exactly at their chosen target, all they have to do is swivel their upper body as necessary until the shoulder aligning tube becomes parallel with their golf club laid on the ground.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

Exhibit “A” shows what a golfer looks like wearing the invention. He has laid one of his golf clubs down on the ground, presumably aimed exactly at a target he has chosen. He has set the invention's target-side loop-strap lower on that arm so the alignment tube is horizontal; and has slightly rotated his upper body so the tube is also exactly parallel to the golf club lying on the ground. Ergo, he knows, for an absolute certainty, that his shoulder-line, too, must, therefore, be pointed exactly out at his chosen target.

Exhibit “B” is a drawing of the entire invention in a reduced size. It shows the arms straps at both ends attached to the aligning tube with “D” rings and eye-hooks, and it indicates how the smaller tube can slide snugly in and out of the larger tube.

Exhibit “C” shows, in approximately actual size, the materials and installation of one end of the aligning tube in detail. It is indicated how the end cap(s) are glued in place, how the threaded eye-hook inserts through a small hole in the center, affixed thereto by two locking nuts. And the stretchy strap material is shown, adjustable in length by the buckle, and attached to the tube via the “D” ring through the eye-hook.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention is comprised of two (2) rigid, straight, light-weight, thin-walled hollow aluminum tubes, each approximately eleven (11) inches in length. One tube is approximately 14/16 inches in outside diameter; the other, approximately 15/16 inches in inside diameter so the first tube can slide snugly all the way into the inside of it. At the outside end of each tube, a plastic end cap is cemented into place. There is a small hole through the center of each end cap through which an approximately ⅜ inch wide eye-hook protrudes to the outside, fastened to the end cap on the inside by two threaded lock-nuts. Attached through each eye-hook are one inch “D” rings. Heavy-duty riveted to the “D” rings on each end is a length of one-inch wide stretchy elastic strapping, each approximately eighteen (18) inches long, with attached one-inch buckles so each strap can double-back through said buckles to form adjustable length loops.

Prior to commencing to hit practice golf balls, the golfer selects a target, and lays one of their clubs, or other similar long, straight object, down on the ground pointed exactly at that target. It can be placed about halfway between the ball and the player's toe-line, or 3″-4″ outside the ball. Hold the connected tubes horizontal to the ground at collar-bone height, and opposingly twist each slightly to pull apart, or push them together, so that the two tubes total length equals about two (2) inches less than the width of the user's shoulders. Once set, there is sufficient tension in the fit between the two tubes so they will retain their positions together. Now lower the tube(s) to about waist high, still paralleling the shoulders. The golfer then slides one hand down through a loop on one end of the tubes, and pulls the loop all the way up the arm so that end of the tube is in front of the upper biceps and about half-way across it. Then the same procedure is repeated for the opposite arm, except, a note: the loop-strap on the arm closest to the target should be positioned 3″-4″ lower than the opposite arm. This is because, in a natural golf stance, the shoulders inherently tilt upward to the target side. So, setting the loop-strap lower on that target-side arm as an offset, will result in the aligning tube becoming parallel to the ground when a golfer assumes the stance position in addressing a golf ball in order to hit a shot.

When a player does assume a golfing set-up position, both arms extend slightly forward. So the tube resting against his or her upper biceps on each side of them will then represent their exact shoulder alignment. All they have to do is look downward, and they will clearly be able see how the tube, and therefore, their shoulders, are aligned. Then, once they have assumed their grip upon the club's handle, and set their hands position how they want them at address, all they finally have to do is rotate their upper body so the shoulder tube is parallel with the club they laid on the ground, and they will know for sure that their shoulder-line is pointing exactly at the target as it is supposed to be. And the invention is designed so the golfer can then easily and comfortably execute full swings and hit golf balls wearing the apparatus in place. The inventor, numerous times has positioned one of his golf clubs on the ground aimed right at a target, and never looked out at that target again. Wearing my invention prototype, I aligned my toes and shoulders exactly parallel with that aimed club-shaft on the ground, and then adjusted the clubface of the golf club I was going to hit with to aim exactly in that same direction. I never once looked out at the target; yet, because I knew my entire body and the club's face were properly aligned, I was easily able to hit dozens of golf balls, ball after ball, right exactly to, or very near the chosen target, time and time again, without ever looking out at it before swinging.

Using this invention, every golfer will learn to recognize what parallel, correctly aimed shoulder alignment looks like, feels like, so that when they take the aligning tube off, they will remember how proper upper body alignment perspective looks, and be able to reproduce it over and over during actual play on a golf course.

None of the materials for the invention will be manufactured by the inventor. All materials will be purchased from separate manufacturers: (1) tubing; (2) end-caps; (3) eye-hooks and lock-nuts; (4) “D” rings; (5) elastic strapping; (6) buckles; (7) rivets. All parts will then be assembled and packaged by inventor, and/or hired employees, as necessary.

As regards other similar inventions, inventor's research has uncovered no other inventions offering assistance in perceiving and ascertaining precise upper-body and shoulder alignments which are attached to a human being. 

1. that it is a straight, or relatively straight, tube or tubes, short pole or poles, rod or rods, of any material . . . of any circumferential or perimetrical shape(s), i.e., cylindrical, elliptical cylindrical, flat sided, oblong, or polygonal . . . constructed of any rigid or relatively rigid material or substance . . . adjustable to, or fixed in length, as is the approximate width across any and/or all human beings' shoulders-fronts. Said device attaches, or can attach, to the human body in any manner so that the it lays across the upper chest, shoulder-front area approximately horizontally and parallel to the ground below when a person is standing approximately upright, and/or bending forward from the hips or waist as would be in a posture and position to perform a shot in the game/sport of golf. Accordingly, when installed upon and across the upper body, chest area, of a human body, and positioned approximately in the above-described manner, said device will enable the wearer to more easily visually perceive, see, what is the proximate straight and level line, or relatively straight, level line, across the upper body of the wearer, and in what direction said upper body/shoulder-line is “aligned” out to the farthest visible distance to the left, or right; and by swiveling their upper body, to effectively “aim” the line across their shoulders and chest at a specific point . . . nearby, or as far away as the eye can see. Further, the flexible and soft elastic, stretchy material(s) at both ends of the rigid tube/rod, by which the tube/rod attaches to the body, enables the user the capability of moving quite freely and comfortably while wearing the device, and even while performing a full, or any length, golf swing and/or the actual striking of a golf ball . . . the actual executing of any golf shot. 